Do you get the severe delay when you leave OpenOffice running, or do you always exit before clicking another file in Explorer? I don't use Windows, but on Linux it seems that one of the first things OpenOffice does when it starts is it checks to see if it's already running, and if it is opening the new file is much quicker.
I doubt that would help much with Adobe Reader. Thank god for Evince.
To see the difference between loading from disk and loading from cache was why I ran it twice.
Even on older computers if OpenOffice took a little while to load at first, it's always been plenty usable for me once it's running. A few of the features I tried to use in Base took a few seconds to load up, but only the first time I used them in that session. So even less efficient features of OpenOffice benefit from the disk cache.
Out of curiosity I ran Abiword and it loaded in about 4 seconds from the disk, and less than 2 seconds from the cache.
And that there is a major advantage to using OpenOffice in the first place. With ODF I can start writing almost instantly with one application and switch to another when I need to use different features.
OpenOffice isn't really the biggest threat to Microsoft, it's ODF.
I just tested it on my system (a core 2 duo laptop running Ubuntu 8.04). OpenOffice 2.4 loads up in 12 seconds and the splash screen appeared after 4 seconds. I closed it and ran it again, the second time it loaded in 2 seconds.
OpenOffice is also very fast for me at least at opening new files when it's already running. If I'm doing a lot of office suite work (like, all day at a job for example) how likely is it that I'll be closing OpenOffice completely and relaunching it every time I need it?
Honesty, I think the big problems people have with adopting free software are brand loyalty and natural resistance to change. Microsoft is out there constantly delivering messages to people that their software is empowering and helpful. Windows and Office are easily two of the most recognizable brands amongst people that use computers. It's easy to see how people will dislike an alternative that they had never heard of until recently. Especially if they equate cost with value as many do. Office is several hundreds of dollars, so OpenOffice must seem terrible if it's just given away.
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Do you get the severe delay when you leave OpenOffice running, or do you always exit before clicking another file in Explorer? I don't use Windows, but on Linux it seems that one of the first things OpenOffice does when it starts is it checks to see if it's already running, and if it is opening the new file is much quicker.
I doubt that would help much with Adobe Reader. Thank god for Evince.
To see the difference between loading from disk and loading from cache was why I ran it twice.
Even on older computers if OpenOffice took a little while to load at first, it's always been plenty usable for me once it's running. A few of the features I tried to use in Base took a few seconds to load up, but only the first time I used them in that session. So even less efficient features of OpenOffice benefit from the disk cache.
Out of curiosity I ran Abiword and it loaded in about 4 seconds from the disk, and less than 2 seconds from the cache.
And that there is a major advantage to using OpenOffice in the first place. With ODF I can start writing almost instantly with one application and switch to another when I need to use different features.
OpenOffice isn't really the biggest threat to Microsoft, it's ODF.
I just tested it on my system (a core 2 duo laptop running Ubuntu 8.04). OpenOffice 2.4 loads up in 12 seconds and the splash screen appeared after 4 seconds. I closed it and ran it again, the second time it loaded in 2 seconds.
OpenOffice is also very fast for me at least at opening new files when it's already running. If I'm doing a lot of office suite work (like, all day at a job for example) how likely is it that I'll be closing OpenOffice completely and relaunching it every time I need it?
Honesty, I think the big problems people have with adopting free software are brand loyalty and natural resistance to change. Microsoft is out there constantly delivering messages to people that their software is empowering and helpful. Windows and Office are easily two of the most recognizable brands amongst people that use computers. It's easy to see how people will dislike an alternative that they had never heard of until recently. Especially if they equate cost with value as many do. Office is several hundreds of dollars, so OpenOffice must seem terrible if it's just given away.